Oakland Raiders 2014 Offseason PrimerRaiders.comThe 2013 season is in the books and we are quickly turning our attention to the 2014 campaign. The offseason is already shaping up to be busy and exciting.

ALAMEDA — The Raiders concluded their three-day mini camp Thursday with coach Dennis Allen pleased with what he sees from an overhauled roster.

"I know there's a lot of experts out there that might think differently," Allen said, "but I like this football team."

Allen no doubt is referring to the myriad stories written about the Raiders being a work-in-progress and far from ready to contend for a Super Bowl title.

Yet, most of the players that Allen is going to take with him into the regular season on the 53-man roster were here the past three days, as well as most of the offseason.

Allen and his coaching staff won't see the players on the field again until the Raiders convene in Napa for training camp in late July.

"I like this football team," Allen said, presumably for emphasis. "I like the players on this team and I'm excited to see what they can do once they get into training camp."

The Raiders finished 4-12 last season. During the offseason, general manager Reggie McKenzie jettisoned numerous veteran players and made little or no attempt to sign some of his own high-profile free agents.

In turn, McKenzie relied upon the NFL draft and lower-profile free agents to fill out his roster this year.

So far, so good, Allen said.

"I've been pleased with the work that these guys have put in and, obviously, we're not the finished product. We've still got a lot of improvement to do, but I wouldn't say that's any different than any of the other 31 teams. But I like their mentality, and I like the way that they work."

Phase One:consists of the first two weeks of the program with activities limited to strength and conditioning and physical rehabilitation only.Phase Two:consists of the next three weeks of the program. On field workouts may include individual player instruction and drills as well as team practice conducted on a “separates” basis . No live contact or team offense vs. team defense drills are permitted.Phase Three:consists of the next four weeks of the program. Teams may conduct a total of 10 days of organized team practice activity, or “OTAs”. No live contact is permitted, but 7 on 7, 9 on 7, and 11 on 11 drills are permissible.

Clubs may hold one mandatory minicamp for veteran players. This minicamp, noted below, must occur during Phase Three of the offseason program. Head coaches hired after the end of the 2012 season are also entitled to conduct an additional voluntary veteran minicamp. Each club may hold a rookie football development program for a period of seven weeks, which in 2013 may begin on May 13. During this period, no activities may be held on weekends, with the exception of one post NFL Draft rookie minicamp, which may be conducted on either the first or second weekend following the draft. The dates of the post draft rookie minicamps will be circulated at a later date.

Oakland Raiders

First Day: April 15

OTA Offseason Workouts: May 20-21, May 23, May 28-29, May 31, June 3-6